DOLPHIN RESEARCH CENTERThirty years of Teaching, Learning, Caring for marine mammals and the environment we share.DRC is a nonprofit marine mammal education and research facility located in the heart of the fabulous Florida Keys. Home to a family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions, DRC offers a variety of educational, fun, exciting programs, and close-up interactions. We hope you enjoy our blog!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

A lot of pelicans have recently visited Dolphin Research Center. They love to land right in the middle of a session and be a part of the action. Not only is it entertaining for us, but it seems the dolphins are interested in the birds too.

During a Dolphin Dip, a pelican decided to get wet with a dolphin alongside some guests. It stayed in the lagoon as the participants got their handshakes, kisses, and imitations, and had all sorts of dolphin fun. However, when it was time for the signal session, Pandora decided to have a little fun of her own.

The guests asked Pandora to do her shark impression. Generally, she then swishes her peduncle from side to side as she pretends to swim like a fish in any direction she chooses. That day she wanted to make sure the pelican felt just as special as her human friends.

As she sashayed her tail back and forth, she made her way towards the bird. The pelican slowly maneuvered its way out of Pandora’s reach but she kept going for him. As she got closer, the bird hopped away from Calusa to another part of the lagoon. Still in shark mode, Pandora continued after the pelican.

After messing with the bird for a minute, Pandora came back to join the rest of the party at the dock. Luckily for the pelican, Pandora is one of the cutest, non-scary, sharks we’ve ever seen.